Balad weather in December

In December, Balad sees average daytime highs of 18°C and overnight lows near 8°C, with 34 mm of rain across 5.2 wet days and about 9.8 hours of daylight. It is the 11th-warmest and 2nd-wettest month of the year here.

Highs ease over the month, from about 20°C in the first days to 17°C by the end. The sky is clear or mostly clear about 56% of the time in December, and the air most often feels dry.

Daylight stretches from about 9 h 54 min at the start of December to 9 h 48 min by month's end. Set against the rest of the year, December is Balad's 11th-clearest and 12th-windiest month. For the whole year in context, see Balad's year-round climate.

Daytime high: 18°; 11th warmest
Overnight low: 8°; 2nd coldest
Rainfall: 34 mm; 5.2 wet days
Daylight: 9 h 42 min; 7:07 AM – 4:52 PM
Cloud cover: 40%; 11th clearest
Wind: 9 km/h; 12th windiest
Solar energy: 2.78 kWh/m²
Travel score: 6.8; out of 10

Balad is city in Iraq.

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

← November Balad year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Temperature in December

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Highs ease over the month, from about 20°C in the first days to 17°C by the end.

A typical December day in Balad reaches about 18°C in the afternoon and slips back to 8°C overnight — a 10°C spread between the day's warmth and the night's chill. On most days the high lands between 14°C and 22°C. Set against its neighbours, December runs about 6°C cooler than November and about 2°C warmer than January.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Avg high (°C)	20	20	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	17
Avg low (°C)	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	20	10
2	20	10
3	20	10
4	20	9
5	19	9
6	19	9
7	19	9
8	19	9
9	19	9
10	19	9
11	18	9
12	18	9
13	18	8
14	18	8
15	18	8
16	18	8
17	18	8
18	18	8
19	17	8
20	17	8
21	17	8
22	17	7
23	17	7
24	17	7
25	17	7
26	17	7
27	17	7
28	17	7
29	17	7
30	17	7
31	17	7

How December really feels in Balad

Once humidity and wind are folded in, December averages 0 days that feel above 32°C and 0 that feel at or below 0°C — the comfort signal a plain temperature reading hides.

Days feeling ≥ 32°C

heat index over the day's high

Days feeling ≤ 0°C

wind chill below the day's low

December sits comfortably in between — no days that feel dangerously hot or drop to a hard freeze once humidity and wind are folded in.

Balad weather by month

How December compares with the rest of the year at a glance. December is the 11th-warmest and 2nd-wettest month here — the current month is highlighted below.

Month	High / Low (°C)	Rainfall (mm)	Wet days	Daylight (hours)	Travel score
Jan	16° / 7°	36	6	10	5.9
Feb	19° / 8°	29	4.4	10.7	7.1
Mar	24° / 12°	27	4.4	11.7	8.2
Apr	31° / 18°	16	2.8	12.8	5.8
May	37° / 23°	4	1.4	13.7	1.8
Jun	42° / 28°	0	0	14.2	0.0
Jul	45° / 31°	0	0	14	0.0
Aug	45° / 30°	0	0	13.3	0.0
Sep	41° / 26°	0	0.1	12.2	0.2
Oct	34° / 20°	12	1.7	11.1	3.8
Nov	24° / 13°	28	3.7	10.2	8.1
Dec	18° / 8°	34	5.2	9.8	6.8

Cloud cover in December

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

The sky is clear or mostly clear about 56% of the time in December.

Beyond those clear spells, partly cloudy skies cover about 14% of December, with mostly cloudy or overcast conditions the remaining 31%.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Clearer (%)	72	72	71	71	70	70	70	69	69	68	68	68	68	67	67	68	68	68	68	69	69	69	70	69	69	69	69	69	69	70	70
Cloudier (%)	28	28	29	29	30	30	30	31	31	32	32	32	32	33	33	32	32	32	32	31	31	31	30	31	31	31	31	31	31	30	30

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	72	28
2	72	28
3	71	29
4	71	29
5	70	30
6	70	30
7	70	30
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	68	32
14	67	33
15	67	33
16	68	32
17	68	32
18	68	32
19	68	32
20	69	31
21	69	31
22	69	31
23	70	30
24	69	31
25	69	31
26	69	31
27	69	31
28	69	31
29	69	31
30	70	30
31	70	30

Chance of precipitation in December

Any precipitation

Balad gets around 34 mm of rain over 5.2 wet days in December. The line is the day-by-day chance of measurable precipitation.

Day to day, the chance of measurable rain averages around 17% and peaks near 18% on the wettest days.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Rain chance (%)	16	16	17	17	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	17	17

	Rain chance (%)
1	16
2	16
3	17
4	17
5	17
6	17
7	18
8	18
9	18
10	18
11	18
12	18
13	17
14	17
15	17
16	17
17	17
18	17
19	17
20	16
21	16
22	16
23	16
24	16
25	16
26	16
27	16
28	16
29	16
30	17
31	17

Humidity in December

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Most of December feels dry — the stacked bands show each day's mix of comfort levels, read off the dew point.

By dew point, December lands in the dry band about 98% of days. It rarely turns muggy — the humid and sticky bands barely register.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Dry (%)	94	95	95	96	96	96	97	97	97	97	98	98	98	98	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	99	100	100	100	99	99	99	99	99
Comfortable (%)	6	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	1

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	94	6
2	95	5
3	95	5
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	96	4
7	97	3
8	97	3
9	97	3
10	97	3
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
23	99	1
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	99	1

Wind in December

Winds average 9 km/h in December, the calmest month.

Across December, daily wind ranges from about 9 km/h on the calmest days to 9 km/h at its breeziest. It stays fairly steady from day to day.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Wind speed (km/h)	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Feels	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm	calm

	Wind speed (km/h)	Feels
1	9	calm
2	9	calm
3	9	calm
4	9	calm
5	9	calm
6	9	calm
7	9	calm
8	9	calm
9	9	calm
10	9	calm
11	9	calm
12	9	calm
13	9	calm
14	9	calm
15	9	calm
16	9	calm
17	9	calm
18	9	calm
19	9	calm
20	9	calm
21	9	calm
22	9	calm
23	9	calm
24	9	calm
25	9	calm
26	9	calm
27	9	calm
28	9	calm
29	9	calm
30	9	calm
31	9	calm

Sunrise & sunset in December

DaylightNight

Daylight runs from about 9 h 54 min at the start of December to 9 h 48 min by month's end. The lit band spans sunrise to sunset each day.

Days shrink by about 6 minutes over December. Sunrise moves from 6:56 AM to 7:14 AM, and sunset from 4:50 PM to 4:59 PM.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Daylight (h)	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.9	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.8	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.7	9.8	9.8	9.8
Sunrise (AM)	6:56	6:57	6:58	6:59	6:59	7:00	7:01	7:02	7:03	7:03	7:04	7:05	7:05	7:06	7:07	7:07	7:08	7:08	7:09	7:09	7:10	7:10	7:11	7:11	7:12	7:12	7:12	7:13	7:13	7:13	7:14
Sunset (PM)	4:50	4:50	4:50	4:50	4:50	4:50	4:50	4:50	4:50	4:50	4:51	4:51	4:51	4:51	4:52	4:52	4:52	4:53	4:53	4:53	4:54	4:54	4:55	4:55	4:56	4:56	4:57	4:58	4:58	4:59	4:59

	Daylight (h)	Sunrise (AM)	Sunset (PM)
1	9.9	6:56	4:50
2	9.9	6:57	4:50
3	9.9	6:58	4:50
4	9.9	6:59	4:50
5	9.8	6:59	4:50
6	9.8	7:00	4:50
7	9.8	7:01	4:50
8	9.8	7:02	4:50
9	9.8	7:03	4:50
10	9.8	7:03	4:50
11	9.8	7:04	4:51
12	9.8	7:05	4:51
13	9.8	7:05	4:51
14	9.8	7:06	4:51
15	9.8	7:07	4:52
16	9.7	7:07	4:52
17	9.7	7:08	4:52
18	9.7	7:08	4:53
19	9.7	7:09	4:53
20	9.7	7:09	4:53
21	9.7	7:10	4:54
22	9.7	7:10	4:54
23	9.7	7:11	4:55
24	9.7	7:11	4:55
25	9.7	7:12	4:56
26	9.7	7:12	4:56
27	9.7	7:12	4:57
28	9.7	7:13	4:58
29	9.8	7:13	4:58
30	9.8	7:13	4:59
31	9.8	7:14	4:59

Solar energy in December

Daily solar energy (kWh/m²)

Average shortwave solar energy reaching the ground each day in December, about 2.78 kWh/m² — the year's lowest.

For context, solar energy here swings from a low near 2.78 kWh/m² to a high of 7.92 kWh/m² in June across the year — December's 2.78 kWh/m² sits near the bottom.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31
Solar energy (kWh/m²)	3.0	3.0	3.0	2.9	2.9	2.9	2.9	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8	2.8
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	Solar energy (kWh/m²)	Level
1	3.0	Moderate
2	3.0	Moderate
3	3.0	Moderate
4	2.9	Moderate
5	2.9	Moderate
6	2.9	Moderate
7	2.9	Moderate
8	2.8	Moderate
9	2.8	Moderate
10	2.8	Moderate
11	2.8	Moderate
12	2.8	Moderate
13	2.8	Moderate
14	2.8	Moderate
15	2.8	Moderate
16	2.8	Moderate
17	2.8	Moderate
18	2.8	Moderate
19	2.8	Moderate
20	2.8	Moderate
21	2.8	Moderate
22	2.8	Moderate
23	2.8	Moderate
24	2.8	Moderate
25	2.8	Moderate
26	2.8	Moderate
27	2.8	Moderate
28	2.8	Moderate
29	2.8	Moderate
30	2.8	Moderate
31	2.8	Moderate

Planning a trip in December

Hazard calendar for Balad

In seasonPeak

None of Balad's seasonal hazards are active in December. The full-year calendar below shows when the rainy season, cyclone risk and dust haze do peak.

Balad sees seasonal dust haze (March–September), heaviest in May.

Dust

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Is December a good time to visit Balad?

Our two travel scores rate December for general sightseeing and for beach or pool weather — 0 (poor) to 10 (ideal).

6.8

Sightseeing

4th-best month of the year

2.4

Beach & pool

8th-best month of the year

December is a reasonable time to visit Balad for sightseeing.

What to pack for Balad in December

From December's temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind — what's worth putting in the bag.

In December, Balad sees daytime highs around 18°C and nights near 8°C. Little to plan around — just the basics. About 5 days see rain.

UV index in Balad in December

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV in December peaks around 3. The full-year curve, shaded by WHO exposure level, is below.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Balad peaks around June 13 at about 9 (very high) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near January 11 at about 3 (moderate).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 10 months of the year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
UV index (midday)	3	3	5	6	8	10	5	8	5	5	4	3
Level	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High	Very high	Very high	Moderate	Very high	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate

	UV index (midday)	Level
Jan	3	Moderate
Feb	3	Moderate
Mar	5	Moderate
Apr	6	High
May	8	Very high
Jun	10	Very high
Jul	5	Moderate
Aug	8	Very high
Sep	5	Moderate
Oct	5	Moderate
Nov	4	Moderate
Dec	3	Moderate

Air quality in Balad in December

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see where December falls, not just the annual average.

Air quality in Balad is worst in December — around 90 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), and holds fairly steady the rest of the year.

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
PM2.5 (µg/m³)	88	85	84	79	79	68	65	68	72	85	82	90
Level	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy	Unhealthy

	PM2.5 (µg/m³)	Level
Jan	88	Unhealthy
Feb	85	Unhealthy
Mar	84	Unhealthy
Apr	79	Unhealthy
May	79	Unhealthy
Jun	68	Unhealthy
Jul	65	Unhealthy
Aug	68	Unhealthy
Sep	72	Unhealthy
Oct	85	Unhealthy
Nov	82	Unhealthy
Dec	90	Unhealthy

Location & terrain

Where is Balad?

Balad sits at 34.0°N, 44.1°E, 53 m above sea level, in Iraq. The nearest listed city is Ad Dujayl, 20 km away.

Topography around Balad

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Balad.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Balad has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 13 m around an average of 48 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 28 m; within 80 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 224 m.

The land around Balad is covered by cropland (37%), trees (27%) and artificial surfaces (23%) within 3 km, cropland (64%) within 16 km, and bare terrain (46%) and cropland (36%) within 80 km.

3 km

13 m

cropland 37%

16 km

28 m

cropland 64%

80 km

224 m

bare terrain 46%

treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrainwater

← November Balad year-round climate January →Best places to visit in December

December weather nearby: Ad Dujayl 20 km · Sāmarrā’ 31 km · Khāliş 43 km · Baqubah 51 km · Al Miqdādīyah 73 km · Sadr City 75 km · Baghdad 79 km · Abū Ghurayb 79 km

Iraq travel facts

Travel advisory: Level 4; Do Not Travel
Power plugs: Type C / D / G; 230 V · 50 Hz
Prices: ≈ 38% of US; price level, 2025
GDP per capita: $5,410; 2025
Happiness: 5.2 / 10; World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water: 60%; of population, 2024
Homicide rate: 9.5; per 100k, 2013
Road deaths: 27.3; per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group: Upper middle; World Bank
English: Very low; EF EPI 406
Religion

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Balad (34.0149°, 44.1457°, elevation 53 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	20	10
2	20	10
3	20	10
4	20	9
5	19	9
6	19	9
7	19	9
8	19	9
9	19	9
10	19	9
11	18	9
12	18	9
13	18	8
14	18	8
15	18	8
16	18	8
17	18	8
18	18	8
19	17	8
20	17	8
21	17	8
22	17	7
23	17	7
24	17	7
25	17	7
26	17	7
27	17	7
28	17	7
29	17	7
30	17	7
31	17	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	72	28
2	72	28
3	71	29
4	71	29
5	70	30
6	70	30
7	70	30
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	68	32
14	67	33
15	67	33
16	68	32
17	68	32
18	68	32
19	68	32
20	69	31
21	69	31
22	69	31
23	70	30
24	69	31
25	69	31
26	69	31
27	69	31
28	69	31
29	69	31
30	70	30
31	70	30

	Rain chance (%)
1	16
2	16
3	17
4	17
5	17
6	17
7	18
8	18
9	18
10	18
11	18
12	18
13	17
14	17
15	17
16	17
17	17
18	17
19	17
20	16
21	16
22	16
23	16
24	16
25	16
26	16
27	16
28	16
29	16
30	17
31	17

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	94	6
2	95	5
3	95	5
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	96	4
7	97	3
8	97	3
9	97	3
10	97	3
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
23	99	1
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	99	1

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	20	10
2	20	10
3	20	10
4	20	9
5	19	9
6	19	9
7	19	9
8	19	9
9	19	9
10	19	9
11	18	9
12	18	9
13	18	8
14	18	8
15	18	8
16	18	8
17	18	8
18	18	8
19	17	8
20	17	8
21	17	8
22	17	7
23	17	7
24	17	7
25	17	7
26	17	7
27	17	7
28	17	7
29	17	7
30	17	7
31	17	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	72	28
2	72	28
3	71	29
4	71	29
5	70	30
6	70	30
7	70	30
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	68	32
14	67	33
15	67	33
16	68	32
17	68	32
18	68	32
19	68	32
20	69	31
21	69	31
22	69	31
23	70	30
24	69	31
25	69	31
26	69	31
27	69	31
28	69	31
29	69	31
30	70	30
31	70	30

	Rain chance (%)
1	16
2	16
3	17
4	17
5	17
6	17
7	18
8	18
9	18
10	18
11	18
12	18
13	17
14	17
15	17
16	17
17	17
18	17
19	17
20	16
21	16
22	16
23	16
24	16
25	16
26	16
27	16
28	16
29	16
30	17
31	17

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	94	6
2	95	5
3	95	5
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	96	4
7	97	3
8	97	3
9	97	3
10	97	3
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
23	99	1
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	99	1

	Avg high (°C)	Avg low (°C)
1	20	10
2	20	10
3	20	10
4	20	9
5	19	9
6	19	9
7	19	9
8	19	9
9	19	9
10	19	9
11	18	9
12	18	9
13	18	8
14	18	8
15	18	8
16	18	8
17	18	8
18	18	8
19	17	8
20	17	8
21	17	8
22	17	7
23	17	7
24	17	7
25	17	7
26	17	7
27	17	7
28	17	7
29	17	7
30	17	7
31	17	7

	Clearer (%)	Cloudier (%)
1	72	28
2	72	28
3	71	29
4	71	29
5	70	30
6	70	30
7	70	30
8	69	31
9	69	31
10	68	32
11	68	32
12	68	32
13	68	32
14	67	33
15	67	33
16	68	32
17	68	32
18	68	32
19	68	32
20	69	31
21	69	31
22	69	31
23	70	30
24	69	31
25	69	31
26	69	31
27	69	31
28	69	31
29	69	31
30	70	30
31	70	30

	Rain chance (%)
1	16
2	16
3	17
4	17
5	17
6	17
7	18
8	18
9	18
10	18
11	18
12	18
13	17
14	17
15	17
16	17
17	17
18	17
19	17
20	16
21	16
22	16
23	16
24	16
25	16
26	16
27	16
28	16
29	16
30	17
31	17

	Dry (%)	Comfortable (%)
1	94	6
2	95	5
3	95	5
4	96	4
5	96	4
6	96	4
7	97	3
8	97	3
9	97	3
10	97	3
11	98	2
12	98	2
13	98	2
14	98	2
15	99	1
16	99	1
17	99	1
18	99	1
19	99	1
20	99	1
21	99	1
22	99	1
23	99	1
24	100	0
25	100	0
26	100	0
27	99	1
28	99	1
29	99	1
30	99	1
31	99	1